And so, it was Oscar time again. I really shouldn’t have watched it live, as I had not yet finished my column that was due the next morning. I told myself I would just watch the opening monologue as I love Ellen DeGeneres. All of a sudden, it hit me, I could write about the Oscars, and tie it in with a recipe. more

I received an invitation to a Purim costume party with a “historical figure theme” a few weeks ago. I love costume parties —until I actually have to come up with a costume. So I tried to come up with some creative ideas. more

When I met my husband Jerry, I knew a lot of his good friends from years back, but every now and then he would say, “Look, there’s a close friend of mine.” Then, usually, he would have a conversation with the guy, and not introduce me. He would, though, always profusely apologize afterwards, for not introducing me, as he forgot his friend’s name. “You’re really good friends with the guy and you don’t know his name?” Weird, I thought. more

I remember as a kid being glued to the TV in 1972, watching Mark Spitz (my future husband, or so I thought at the time). He was my favorite Olympian. He was handsome, talented, won seven gold medals, was planning to go to dental school, and he was Jewish — a great catch. more

Remember when coffee was either regular or decaf, water came from the tap, dried fruit strips were called shoe leather and eggs were just eggs? Today we have coffee in every flavor, strength and blended concoction (for as much as $6 a cup), water comes from all over the world (and costs as much as if you had to pay its travel fares), eggs in a variety of sizes can be free-range, brown or organic. more

I figured I would compare it to the Freeze Bowl between the Bengals and the Chargers, when Jerry, “I’ve got it, you’ll knock it out of the park with this one: Sid Luckman.” more

Last week, my dear mother-in-law, Sima Mattel (Sari), a”h, passed away. I never heard her complain about her lot in life. This was a woman who was taken from her home when she was 14, lived in a ghetto with her parents and seven siblings and watched her mother die of cancer. She ended up in Auschwitz, where four of her siblings and her father were sent to the gas chamber. She also walked on the death march and was in Bergen-Belsen. more

I’ve always wanted to compare apples to apples, and figured, since the recipe I’m sharing with you this week is an apple cake, what better time than now? China is the largest producer of apples, producing almost half of the world’s apples. more

About 2-1/2 years ago, I was helping my dear friend Ellen Finkelstein set up for her a shalosh seudos in honor of her son’s bar mitzvah. more

My stepdaughter Yardena gave birth to her third bouncing boy a few weeks ago and my husband Jerry was planning to head to Israel for the bris. He had such wonderful memories of the last trip to Israel for the last bris that he wanted to replicate it. I advised against a nine-hour layover in Romania, as it would be best if he spent more time with the grandchildren than in the airport. Boy did he ever owe me for that advice. Had he taken the layover, he would have gotten to Israel after all roads to Yerushalayim from Tel Aviv were closed due to snow. more